//------------------------------// // The Inevitable Couple Cliche (5) // Story: The Hidden of the Everfree // by musicman722 //------------------------------// Patrolling the outside of the cave was about as entertaining as it sounds. Nothing moved except the wind and only distant roars of the beasts of the Everfree broke the monotony of the job. A shrill cry pierced the night. “Cockatrice. I think it's found some food.” one of the unfortunate soldiers tasked with the important, yet dull, job of guarding the entrance from prying pony eyes. “Nah, I think it's a baby manticore. Probably hurt its paw.” another said, a female. “How would you know, Milli? You kept one as a pet?” 'Milli' socked the changeling in the shoulder, “Don't call me that, Hops. For your information, I had to research it to get into those pony pet clinics.” “Sure, but you know you like it when I call you that, Millipede. Besides, you're the one who won't call me Hopper like everyling else.” the changeling said. Milli blushed slightly, “Shut up.” she turned away and paced about the area as per her orders. Unfazed, Hopper fell in beside her, “Quite a night, isn't it?” he said smoothly “Hopper-” Milli began to say threateningly. As if waiting for it, Hopper held up a hoof, “Oh come on, Milli. We've been hiding in the scariest forest known to ponykind for weeks now. There is no way that those ponies could possibly find us without screaming for their lives out here.” “I know Hops,” Milli sighed, “But we can't slack off now. What would happen if a dragon decided to attack us?” “Psh, Dragons don't live in the Everfree.” he said nonchalantly, then sidled up closer to his partner, matching her step for step, “Look, we're all alone and have the entire shift in front of us. I know we agreed to keep it in check while on the job, but this may be our only chance for a while.” “No.” Milli said sternly. “Come on~” Hopper pleaded, now inside Milli's personal space. “No.” Hopper rubbed cheeks with her, “You know you want to.” “No.” she said once more, but with less conviction this time. “I'll give you a massage afterwards.” Now he nibbled on one of her ears. “....No.” Hopper smirked at his progress. This time he went for the kill. “I'll let you bite.” He knew that was her favorite one. “....I hate you.” “No you don't.” was all he could say before Milli tackled him to the ground. He countered by rolling over and pinning her arms to her sides. “You are so obsessed with wrestling after that one mission we had years ago.” Milli said as she used her hind legs to kick at Hopper and knock him off. “What? It's cool! Buck Bogan was awesome. That piledriver move was amazing!” His fangasm was cut short as Milli headbutted him. “I sometimes wonder why you're my coltfriend.” she said before bucking him across the clearing. “Because of my good looks and witty charm. Not to mention you like it when I do that thing with my tongue-” His face was promptly smashed in by a tomato-red Milli. “S-Shut up!” Every second, her face grew a shade of red brighter. Meanwhile, Hopper rolled on the ground, clutching his nose in pain. “Oowww, I fink you bwoke my nose!” “Walk it off, wimp.” Milli said before trotting back to her patrols. They had already wasted too much time playing. Who knows what could have sneaked into the Hive? Millipede scanned the area and sighed with relief to know that nothing dared approach the entrance. However, she couldn't fully relax for some reason. A tiny thought lurked in the back of her head. 'Why didn't any animal try to get in?' She knew that in the Everfree Forest, there was always a creature sizing you up for its next meal. A few minutes of distraction meant that some of the more stealthy ones could have entered the cave, or even gone after her and Hopper. Recalling back to earlier, the guard before her said that animals started acting up. Screeching and hollering as if there was a fire. So far, the only animal noise was very distant. It was as if the forest itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. “Hey, Hops, what do you think?” she called back to her partner. Of course, he didn't answer. Probably still in pain. “Hops?” She turned to see Hopper on the ground, motionless. Milli sighed, “Hops, I didn't hit you that hard.” No response. “Oh, the silent treatment. That's what this is, isn't it? Ugh, fine. I'm sorry for beating your face in. You know I hate it when you talk about that.” Her face blushed slightly as she mentioned it. Nothing. She left herself open to a dozen of Hopper's witty one liners that she would probably punch him in the face again for, but he said nothing. “Hops?” she asked, beginning to get worried, “You okay?” Briefly, she wondered if she knocked him out. However, that notion was dashed once she turned him over. Hopper's eyes were glassed over and he had a large gash through his neck. Despite the mortal wound, there was not a drop of blood to be found. By the time, Milli processed this, she was about to run and scream and grieve, but she was stopped by a pressure on her throat. The next second, everything went black. ***** Such weaklings. If their blood wasn't so delicious, I wouldn't even bother hunting them. Well, I still would, but only if it was convenient. So far, these 'changelings' as I have learned, have varied in taste. By that I mean some were less delicious than others. I've still yet to figure out why they are as diluted as they were. No matter. I have enough energy to cast my only spell. I'm lucky that this is the only entrance into the grounds. That is, the only entrance big enough for my prey to get through. Plenty of air tubes and the lot, bringing fresh air to the stale undergrounds. Even I must breathe like my prey. I gather the energy in my palm, setting the magics for my spell. Once I was safely inside, I threw my destructive spell at the entrance's top arch. My only regret is that I'm going to have to clean this rubble up or possibly choose a new place to hunt. I wonder if the world has forgotten me? If they have, they'll soon remember. BOOOM! ***** Discord was disturbed. No, not in the crazy sense as he constantly is in. Technically, he was always disturbed, so the more accurate word would be ‘perturbed’. Either way, he was worried. The dark chaos he found kept eluding his grasp like greased lightning. Nothing escaped his grasp except harmony and this was not harmony. “What are you?” he muttered as the strand of chaos slipped away for the umpteenth time. With every escape, Discord learned something about this new chaos, aside from how slippery it was. It was severely hostile, no it was hungry, but no, it was sadistic. It wanted to hurt, to feed, and to kill everything. Nothing would be spared and nothing would stop it from killing its target. Even the god of chaos, the one who put Equestria through an era of turmoil and strife and was only defeated by a set of magic rocks, felt a small stab of fear in him. Not because he could be harmed by it, but because he couldn’t touch it, know it, or even see it. By his logic, it shouldn’t even exist. And yet, it did. As the thing slipped away once more, Discord turned a part of his mind towards where it originated from. Perhaps that held some clues. He stared back into the hole in the ground to the cave lit by slime and furnished with water and bones. Nothing particularly chaos inducing. ’Interesting.’ Discord thought, then idly wondered, ’I wonder if that new flavor of rocky moose road a la mode arrived at the store yet?’ Drawing upon his experience, he knew that to summon a chaotic creature, you would need three things. A rune, a representation of said creature, and peanut butter. Why the last one? Because that stuff sticks the creature down long enough to talk or whatnot until it gets cleaned off. Presently, there was none of those items, unless you count the bones as the representation or the rune. ’If it wasn’t summoned, then how…?’ Discord wondered as his gaze moved around the room. When he spotted the pool, he felt the need to face palm with a palm tree. ’Of course! It was already here!’ Just like how Discord was trapped in stone, other chaotic creatures could be ensnared. Albeit different ways, but that was the nature of chaos. ’Now what was the seal for this one?’ Discord mused. He tried to find some talisman, rune, or magic that could have trapped the sadistic creature in, but all he found was just plain and simple water. ’Water? Why water?’ Peering more closely, he could see blood stains throughout it along with plenty of salt. Probably an extra measure or just coincidence, but Discord wasn’t taking chances. ’Well now I know what opened the cage for this thing. Now, I just need to-‘ BOOM! ’…that….doesn’t sound good.’